ScienceInsider

by Eli Kintisch

Activists in polar bear suits or protesters standing outside of coal plants might get the public message on climate change across, but might there be more personal choices that activists can make to convey their point? Say, instead of protesting the use of coal power, why not refuse to use it?

The newest wrinkle in the grassroots climate change movement is out of Boston, where students in a group calling itself the Leadership Campaign have pledged to regularly hold "sleepouts" in tents instead of sleeping inside dorms whose electricity comes from coal plants. Last night, students and NASA scientist James Hansen were among several dozen roused from tents they had illegally pitched on the Boston Common, the park which sits in the center of the city. The Campaign explains its action:

Beginning October 25, students, religious leaders and community members from across the Commonwealth will refuse to sleep in their homes and dorms powered by dirty energy until the state adopts a policy to Repower Massachusetts with 100% Clean Electricity in the next 10 years, transforming our economy and eliminating dirty fossil fuels.